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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1499893

Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Medication Adherence and Health-Related Quality of Life Through a Collaborative Pharmacist-Psychiatrist Approach to Patient Education in Patients with Depression in India

Provisionally accepted
Ambed Mishra Ambed Mishra 1,2*Kishor Manohar Rao Kishor Manohar Rao 3Ramesh Madhan Ramesh Madhan 4
  • 1 Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India
  • 2 Department of Community Medicine, JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysore, Karnataka, India
  • 3 Department of Psychiatry, JSS Hospital, Mysore, India, Mysore, India
  • 4 Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysore, Mysore, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Depression is a common but severe mental health disorder affecting individuals globally. Medication non-adherence and low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are the major challenges associated with the treatment of patients with depression.Material and Methods: A prospective Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted in the psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital for six months. Patients were assigned to either a control group receiving usual care or a test group receiving collaborative care using simple randomization technique. The eligible patients diagnosed with depression were enrolled and the data were collected from patient's care records, prescriptions, patient interviews, patient representatives and healthcare professionals. The intervention in the test group consisted of comprehensive patient education, including a thorough counseling session with a research clinical pharmacist. Counseling sessions included information on the disease, medications prescribed, possible side effects, compliance with medications and overall treatment. The data collected from both patient groups was analyzed for medication adherence using the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using a student t-test with a significance level of P value < 0.05.The collaborative care group showed a statistically significant improvement in medication adherence, with a mean increase of 1.67±0.25 (P < 0.001), compared with a mean increase of 0.69±0.05 (P < 0.05) for the usual care group. Similarly, HRQoL scores also improved significantly more in the collaborative care group, with a mean increase of 28.01±2.05 (P < 0.001), compared with a mean increase of 12.46±0.26 (P < 0.05) for the usual care group.This study concluded that pharmacist-psychiatrist collaborative patient education can significantly improve the medication adherence and HRQoL of the patients with depression. Statistically significant increases in medication adherence and HRQoL were observed in the collaborative group.

    Keywords: Depression, Medication Adherence, Quality of Life, Pharmacy, Psychiatry, Mental Health

    Received: 22 Sep 2024; Accepted: 24 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Mishra, Rao and Madhan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ambed Mishra, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.